Comments on: Dept. of Justice testimony on ENDA: Pass it now

By: Kari

Kari — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:27:00 +0000

@Drewski:
“Has Obama specifically requested that Congress draft an ENDA bill?”

He kind of didn’t need to. ENDA was written in 1994, two years before Obama ran for his first office as a state senator for in Illinois.

“Has he said to Congress, present it to me and I will sign it?”

Yes.

“When a Democrat President asks a Dem-controlled Congress for a bill, it can move quickly;”

It can. That does not mean it *will*. Look at health care; Obama has said that was a priority and Congress is *still* working on it. Legislation isn’t quite as easy to fast-track as advertised.

By: Dr. Ian

Dr. Ian — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:10:03 +0000

Chick-fil-A is a bigoted company which routinely fires employees simply because they are gay. Franchise owners say that being gay is incompatible with the company’s “Christian” values. (Apparently, loving others is also incompatible with their “Christian” values.)

Passage of ENDA takes priority over same sex marriage. This is a law with immediate NATIONAL effect. Marriage, on the other hand, is simply a state issue.

By: Sweetkisses

Sweetkisses — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:18:57 +0000

Good. It should be passed. But, I wouldn’t hold your breath. We have the right to life…and that is about it. The right to work? Housing? Nope. We’re not human enough for that. The right to marriage?

By: Drewski

Drewski — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:28:37 +0000

Where is the President’s request that the Congress send him a bill? I thank Mr Perez for his clear and supportive testimony for ENDA. Has Obama specifically requested that Congress draft an ENDA bill? Has he said to Congress, present it to me and I will sign it? When a Democrat President asks a Dem-controlled Congress for a bill, it can move quickly; when he doesn’t assign a priority by requesting it, that bill can easily–very easily–die in some obscure committee. Yet again, all we ask is that he tell Congress that it’s a priority and that he’s waiting to sign it. That’s not much political capital to spend. Somebody please tell me that Obama has in fact taken the lead. Please prove me wrong.

By: Robert Katz

Robert Katz — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:28:55 +0000

If ENDA passes, there will be one less reason to deny us equality in areas such as marriage. Early state supreme court rulings on the issue of marriage equality refused to recognize us as a “suspect class” with the result that they so no need for a closer look than “rational basis” for excluding us. With the passage of ENDA and the passage of the Matthew Shepherd bill, it will be harder and harder for courts to take this approach. With these laws as stepping stones, the courts may well, in the future, be our best bet for obtaining full equality.